A Learning Experience
by Topazicatzbeth
Summary: While working a case the team learn that looks can be deceiving. Danny whump.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: hey guys, back with another story. It's finished and will be posted every other day. A massive thanks to wenwalke, she is the beta queen and I'd be lost without her, especially for title ideas. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own H50 or make any money from this. No copy right infringement intended. Just doing it for the love of whump. **

**Chapter One**

Steve and Danny pulled up outside the house that contained their latest crime scene. HPD were already on scene, so they entered the house. Inside the living room they found Max knelt next to the body of a young woman. The woman's shirt was stained red from her own blood, and the cause of death was glaringly obvious, thanks to the knife sticking out of her chest.

"Afternoon, Max." Steve greeted the medical examiner.

"Afternoon, Commander, Detective." Max said standing to greet them. "I have only just arrived so have only had time to do a preliminary assessment, but I'm going to go with cause of death being a stab wound to the chest."

"Ya think?" Danny snorted pointing to the knife left sticking out of the woman's chest.

"I will know more once I get the body back to the lab and perform a full autopsy, but I expect it to show the knife hit the heart and cause almost instant death." The medical examiner replied oblivious to Danny's sarcasm.

"Thanks, Max." Steve said, "Do we have an I.D?"

"Yes, a Miss. Laura Shift. She resides here with two housemates, one of which is in the bedroom with an HPD officer. She appeared rather upset."

"Well that's to be expected, Max, her roommate is dead." Danny replied, "I'll go talk to her."

"Sure." Steve nodded then continued to take in the rest of the scene. There was a chair tipped over, and a smashed vase with flowers scattered across the floor. Walking into the kitchen the floor was covered with smashed plates and the remains of someone's lunch was splattered across the wall, the bowl it had once belonged to lay at the base, smashed to smithereens. "Looks like someone was really angry, CSU will need to process this whole area." He ordered the young HPD officer that was standing guard.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Danny entered the bedroom and found a female HPD officer sat with a young brunette. Tears stained the young woman's face which was as white as the sheets on the bed she sat on. Her top was stained with blood where she had wiped her hands clean.

"Detective Williams." The HPD officer said rising to her feet as he entered the room and introducing herself, "Officer Jenkins. This is Miss. Alexandra Shift, sister to the deceased. She was present at the time of the attack. It seems Laura and their housemate, Channing Scott, got into a fight and Channing stabbed Laura."

"Thanks," Danny said nodding to the officer and then moving to the distraught young woman's side. "Miss. Shift, my name is Detective Williams I'm with 5-0. I'm so sorry for your loss. I appreciate how upset you are right now but I need to ask you some questions. Would that be ok?"

Alexandra wiped a hand across her face and nodded, "it all happened so fast." She whimpered. "Channing came home and saw Laura with the flowers. For some reason Channing has had a crazy idea that Laura has been seeing her ex boyfriend. She hasn't though, she wouldn't do that. Channing saw the flowers and wrongly assumed they were from him, they weren't. I bought them. I wanted to cheer her up, because of all the tension. We had asked Channing to find somewhere else to live, she has changed recently. We haven't found any proof but we think she has been taking drugs."

"What happened when Channing saw the flowers?" Danny gently asked.

"Channing started to scream at Laura, accusing her of seeing Jake."

"The ex boyfriend?" Danny confirmed and Alexandra nodded.

"Laura told her she was being stupid, that they were from me, but Channing wouldn't listen, she picked up a plate from the dish rack at threw it at Laura. I was making soup for us both, for lunch, and tried to get Channing to calm down. But she threw one of the bowls of hot soup at me. She just went mad and started throwing all the plates around. Laura just picked up the flowers and marched into the living room. She is...was so good at not letting people get to her." Alexandra continued doing her best to not break down.

"You're doing really well Miss. Shift." Danny said softly.

"Alex, please." She replied with a sniff.

"Ok, Alex. You are doing really well. What happened once Laura went into the living room?

"Channing grabbed the knife, she looked crazy, her eyes were massive and she was red in the face. She ran after Laura, and as Laura turned around, she...she..."

"It's ok." Danny said placing his hand on her shoulder. "I get the picture. What happened after?"

"I think she realised what she had done. She just ran out of the house. I ran to Laura. I tried to get help. To help her. I knew I shouldn't pull the knife out, but...but..."

"Her injuries were too severe. Alex, you couldn't have done anything to save your sister. We're almost done here, I just need to ask. Is there anywhere you can think of that Channing might go to? Someone close? The ex boyfriend?"

"She might have gone to Jakes' but I don't think he would help her. He broke up with her because of her behaviour."

"What about family?"

"Her parents are dead. They died in a car accident when she was little. The only family she has is her grandmother, Mrs. Lomax. She raised Channing. She lived with her up until moving in with us. We met at college and we wanted someone to help with the bills, and at first she was nice... But then..." Alex broke down in tears.

"Thank you Alex. I appreciate how hard this has been. Officer Jenkins is going to take you down to the station. We will need a formal statement. She will also help you contact anyone that needs to know. I promise you we will do everything within our power to track down Channing and bring her to justice for your sister's death."

"Thank you." Alex said through tearstained eyes and Danny left the room, receiving a nod from Officer Jenkins in confirmation that she would take care of their witness.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Danny re entered the living area and found Max ready to remove the body. Chin and Kono had arrived and were talking to Steve.

"Hey guys." Danny acknowledged joining them, "I just spoke with the deceases sister. She witnessed the whole thing. Our murderer is a Channing Scott. The girls got into an argument and Channing stabbed Laura. It sounds like she may have been high on drugs. The sisters had suspected she had started using but hadn't found any evidence. There has been tension between them all for a while."

"Well at least we know who did it." Kono stated.

"Sure, we'll inform HPD. They can put a BOLO out for her. They don't need us, they can handle this." Steve explained.

"I thought we could help look for her, it's been a slow week for us. I'm sick of paperwork, especially after all the trouble you caused last week. We could help HPD out. I promised the sister we would find her and bring her to justice." Danny explained.

Steve rolled his eyes, he was never gonna here the end of his slip up last week, and he was still waiting for the Governor to get the budget report for the damage he caused. "Fine, ok. Did she have any idea where Channing might have gone?"

Danny smiled, "she did. There is an ex boyfriend but I think he is less likely. The most likely place she would go to is her Grandmother's; she was raised by the woman."

"Ok, you two stay here and work the scene. Get a dog squad in to go over the house, especially Channing's room. See if we can find any truth to the drug story." Steve ordered Chin and Kono. "Danny and I will go speak with the grandmother."

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: thanks for the reviews and follows. Sorry about the every other day update, I might be persuaded to post sooner if I get enough reviews. lol. Busy working on the next one too.**

**Chapter Two**

Steve and Danny located the address for the grandmother and had just knocked on the door. Movement could be heard inside, and slowly the door opened revealing a frail looking old lady.

"Mrs. Lomax?" Danny questioned.

"Yes dear, that's me. How can I help you?"

"I'm Detective Williams, from 5-0. This is Commander McGarrett." Danny explained indicating to the badge on his belt. "Please can we come in? We need to speak with you about your granddaughter."

"Oh, yes. Of course." She replied backing away from the door and allowing them to enter, "is Channing ok?"

"Why don't we take a seat?" Steve suggested knowing the news of what her granddaughter had done wouldn't be easy to listen to.

The elderly woman nodded and made her way to a high back chair and indicated for the two to sit on the couch opposite. Both men took up the invitation, and Steve nodded to Danny to take the lead.

"Mrs. Lomax when was the last time you saw your granddaughter Channing?"

"Er... It was the day before yesterday. We had lunch together, why? Is she ok? Oh please don't tell me she has been hurt."

Danny sighed knowing he was about to break the woman's heart. "Mrs. Lomax, I'm afraid Channing got into a fight with one of her housemates this afternoon. Things got heated and Channing stabbed her friend."

"Oh my goodness." Mrs. Lomax cried putting a hand to her mouth. "Is the girl ok? Was it Alex or Laura?"

"It was Laura, and I'm afraid she died almost instantly." Danny said softly.

"Oh no. That can't be, Channing wouldn't do something that terrible, she is a good girl. She wouldn't." Mrs. Lomax said placing her hand to her chest and grimacing.

"I'm sorry, but Alex witnessed everything. Your granddaughter killed Laura." Steve confirmed and the woman burst into tears and continued to grip her chest.

"Mrs. Lomax I know this is upsetting to hear but are you ok?" Danny asked concerned seeing the woman pale, and continue to hold her chest.

"Angina." She explained attempting to control her breathing, "my medicine is in the kitchen."

"I'll get it." Steve said immediately springing to his feet, "stay with her Danny. Try to keep her calm."

Danny moved next to Mrs. Lomax and placed a reassuring hand on her arm. "Just try to calm your breathing, my partner is getting your meds. Nice and easy, Mrs. Lomax."

Steve quickly returned with a small red spray bottle, and the woman immediately spayed it under her tongue. Minutes later the pain lines on her face receded and her breathing calmed. Danny had remained by her side coaching her to calm down.

"Thank you." She sighed, "My stupid heart is giving up on me. Between that and my glaucoma I'm a mess. Thank you so much." She said smiling at Danny.

"I'm sorry we upset you. But we really need to find Channing."

"You're sure she did it?" The old lady asked, tears still in her eyes, and Danny nodded in confirmation.

"Mrs. Lomax, have you notice a change in your granddaughters behaviour lately?" Steve asked, "Alex said the girls suspected she had been using drugs."

"What?" The woman's face flashed with anger. "I told you Channing is a good girl. She obviously just made a mistake. Now if you don't mind, I'd like you to leave."

"Mrs. Lomax, I'm sorry if my partner offended you, it was not his intention. I'm sure you can appreciate that we have to look into all angles of this. If Channing was using drugs it could explain why she acted out of character." Danny softly cajoled the elderly woman.

"Of course, dear, I'm sorry. It's just such a shock." She smiled at Danny then cast Steve a disapproving look.

"If Channing gets in touch you need to persuade her to turn herself in. It's for the best because we will catch her." Steve stated.

"Here's my card." Danny said passing the woman his contact details. "If she contacts you I need you to get in touch."

"Of course, dear," The woman smiled and the two men said their goodbyes and left the house.

Walking back to the car Steve smiled at Danny, "what?" Danny spat.

"She certainly liked you. Me, not so much."

"Well you did call her granddaughter a druggie."

"Well she probably is."

"Possibly, but no one wants to be told that straight out. So what now? She hasn't seen Channing so what, the boyfriend?"

"Maybe." Steve replied. "I think we should head back to the palace, see if CSU and the dog squad turned up anything. Catch up with Chin and Kono. Then we can chase up the ex and run Channing's financials."

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

The boys arrived back at the palace to find Chin and Kono already hard at work looking through Channing's financials.

"Any luck with the grandmother?" Chin asked.

"Not really. She said she hadn't seen Channing since the day before yesterday. She's pretty frail, and got really upset when I mentioned drugs. She didn't think Channing would be involved with them." Steve explained.

"Well she was wrong." Kono stated and brought up photos of Channing's room at the shared house. "The drug dog found her stash. She had a removable floor board under the bed. The dog found 3lb of cannabis."

"3lb?" Danny questioned and received a nod from both Chin and Kono.

"That's way too much for personal use." Steve stated.

"Yep, which is why we ran her financials," Chin explained then indicated for Kono to bring up the data she had found.

"She has made deposits of large quantities for the last six months, but she also makes several transfers to her grandmother for large quantities of money too." Kono explained.

"Money from selling drugs, no doubt," Steve surmised.

"With that amount of drugs, and the fact that she is a collage student, I think it's pretty safe to assume she was selling her stash." Danny agreed.

"So where is she getting the stash from, and where is she now?" Steve pondered. "I think we need to go back and speak with Mrs. Lomax. I have a feeling she knows more than she was letting on. She got very jumpy when I mentioned the drugs."

"What do you want us to do?" Chin enquired.

"Can you two chase up the ex boyfriend. See if he knows where she is hiding."

"Sure thing, boss." Kono said shutting down the open files.

Steve and Danny were about to head out when Steve's phone rang. Looking at the caller ID Steve grimaced. "It's the Governor. I need to take this. Just hang on a sec." And Steve headed to his office for some privacy as he was sure he was about to get his ear chewed off.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Steve exited his office looking frustrated, "guys, change of plans. The governor wants to see me to go over the budget report."

"Oh dear," Danny said shaking his head. He had completed their latest report so knew that they had blown it after Steve pushed too hard during a pursuit, and sent the car they were chasing through a shop window, the week before. They all knew the call was coming, once the Governor saw the report.

"Yeah, he's not happy with me. So while I go grovel, Danny you go talk to Mrs. Lomax again while Chin and Kono go talk to Channing's ex-boyfriend. See if either of them was aware of the money. Danny, see what Mrs. Lomax has to say about the transfers."

Danny groaned, "Great, I have to see her alone?"

"You already have such a rapport with the woman Danny. She obviously liked you, so is more likely to open up to you without me there. Go have a coffee with her, get her talking. I'm sure she knows where Channing is, and is protecting her. This girl killed her housemate. We need to find her."

"Tough luck, brah." Chin said patting Danny on the shoulder and signalling for Kono to follow him. Kono just smiled in sympathy.

"Hey, you can always swap with me and go see the Governor." Steve suggested.

"Er.. On second thoughts, Mrs. Lomax will do me just fine." Danny said grabbing his keys.

"Yeah, I thought so." Steve chuckled. "Wish me luck."

"You need more than luck." Danny replied. "He is gonna hand you your ass." And with that he left.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Mrs. Lomax opened the door and looked confused to see Danny returning so quickly. "Detective Williams, back again so soon, and on your own."

"Yes, Mrs. Lomax, so sorry to bother you again but I have some more questions. Can I come in?"

"Now is really not the best time, Detective. After the upset of this afternoon my angina has really been acting up. I was about to have a lie down." And she attempted to shut the door, but Danny blocked it with his foot.

"Mrs. Lomax, I appreciate you have had a shock. But I really need to ask you a few more questions. It won't take too long, I promise."

"Oh, very well," Mrs. Lomax huffed and moved away to sit in her chair.

Danny resumed his earlier place on the couch and began to fill Mrs. Lomax in. "I won't mess about Mrs. Lomax. We found drugs in Channing's room. A lot of drugs, which leads us to believe she was selling them." The older woman shifted in her seat her features ridged. Then suddenly she stood.

"I need a coffee, how about you? Then we can discuss this further."

"Sure." Danny agreed hoping he could break some barriers down. Mrs. Lomax seemed different from his earlier visit.

A few minutes later the woman returned and handed Danny his drink, which he gratefully accepted and began to drink.

"As I was saying, Mrs. Lomax. We believe Channing was selling the drugs, and we know she has been transferring you large sums for money for the last six months.

"She has been helping me pay my bills, my glaucoma and heart medication isn't cheap you realise."

"I understand that, but the smallest amount was for $500 and she made weekly transfers."

"She helped me pay my utility bills. I told you she is a good girl."

"That certainly was good of her but where did you think she got the money from?" Danny asked sensing the increasing hostility from the elderly woman.

"From her job, she works in fashion. It pays well."

Danny knew this was a lie, Channing had no such job. Finishing his coffee Danny slowly stood, something was seriously off. "Mrs. Lomax, can I take a look at Channing's old room?"

"What, no." She said jumping to her feet and rushing passed him. "She hasn't lived here for over a year now. There is nothing left of her things."

"I'd still like to look." Danny said continuing to head to the bedrooms.

"No! Stop! "Mrs. Lomax said grabbing his arm.

"Mrs. Lomax, is Channing here? You know it's against the law to hide a wanted person?"

"No. She isn't here. I haven't seen her for a few days. I just don't want you rooting around in my things." She snapped.

"I promise I'll be respectful." Danny said calmly.

"I said no. You can't go in there without a search warrant, so leave now." She screeched.

"Actually, Mrs. Lomax, I can go in there if I believe a wanted criminal is hiding here. I don't need a warrant." Danny explained sidestepping her and drawing his gun.

He opened the door and entered, gun held high, and let out a shocked breath. The bedroom was flooded with artificial light, with row upon row of cannabis plants. Stood in the middle of the rows was Channing Scott who had obviously been trying to get rid of the plants, as several black bin bags were piled against the far wall. "Channing Scott, hands where I can see them." Danny yelled.

The young woman dropped the bag she was holding and slowly raised her hands. "Please don't shoot. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill her, I didn't realise what I was doing."

"You can discuss that defence with your attorney, now hands above your head and on your knees."

Channing complied and Danny moved in and handcuffed her.

"Please she's a good girl." Mrs. Lomax cried. "She did all this for me, the cannabis helps my glaucoma."

"You can get a medical card for that. You're under arrest too." Danny said taking out his phone and calling HPD for support.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: so this is a day early, I'm sure you don't mind. Right? I'm having a PJ day with my boys and plan to work on my new story so thought I'd be nice and post early, especially since TheDogo insisted I'd posted a cliffie for the last chapter.**

**This is the scene that inspired the story, hope you enjoy my new way to whump poor Danny. **

**Chapter Three**

Danny saunted back in to the Palace, a smile plastered across his face. He had managed to keep his promise and bring Channing to justice, and shut down a drug supplier in the process. What a great day.

"Oh look. The Super Detective returns." Kono joked.

"I just got lucky guys." Danny said waving off the praise. "The Governor let you live?" Danny said smiling at Steve.

"Yeah, just about. Let's just say I'm not his favourite person right now." Steve sighed, the dressing down he had received still ringing in his ears.

"We were just about to look into Mrs. Lomax's financials to see if we can make a good case against her on the drug charges." Kono explained.

"I still can't believe that frail old lady was growing all those drugs." Steve said shaking his head.

"Oh, she wasn't so sweet when put on the spot." Danny explained.

"She certainly wasn't an innocent old lady. Look at those payments she made to the electricity company. No way she didn't know what was happening in that room." Chin pointed out.

They all leaned over the smart table, examining the files, no one speaking until a drop of blood hitting the screen broke their concentration.

"Shit!" Danny exclaimed moving away from the table and pinching his nose.

"You ok, brah?" Chin asked concerned.

"Dose bleed." Danny responded, his voice muffled as he continued to pinch his nose attempting to stop the blood that was now freely dripping onto the floor.

"Whoa, that's one hell of a nose bleed, Danny." Steve said hurrying over to the kitchen area and grabbing some paper towels. Danny took the offered towels, and as he held them to his nose, blood poured from it like someone had turned on a faucet.

"Jesus." Steve said grabbing a chair and forcing Danny to sit down, taking over pinching his best friend's nose. "Are they always this bad?" He asked.

"I don't dormally get dem." Danny answered after swallowing some of the blood that was dripping down the back of his throat.

"Well you're certainly having a doozy of one now." Steve said batting Danny's hand away as he brought it up to take over from Steve. "Chin, does the first aid kit have any nasal packs?"

Chin grabbed the first aid kit and started to look through it.

"I've got some tampons in my locker if you want?" Kono offered with a glint in her eye.

"I dam not sticking your dady things up my dose." Danny ranted.

"Relax brah, I found some nasal packs." Chin said passing them to Steve. "Not cool cuz." He said shaking his head, and Kono shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

Steve finished inserting the second pack, and then tipped Danny's head back to soak the packs with saline solution to cause them to swell and fill Danny's nasal cavity. Danny swallowed, attempting to fight back the rising nausea that had started to creep up on him from the taste of blood. "Danks."

"No problem, bud, now why don't you go and clean up and I'll clean up here. Then we can get back to closing the case. Those things will need to stay in for a while." Steve said grabbing some more paper towels and starting to clean up the blood from the floor.

"Do Kay. Dorry." Danny said, standing and heading to the bathroom. As the door closed behind him he headed straight for the sink and washed the blood from his hands then bent down and took a mouthful of water and swilled his mouth, spitting it into the sink. He glanced in the mirror and shook his head at the sight of his reflection, the two cotton swabs, up his nose, now starting to stain pink.

Seeing as he was in the bathroom he decided to relieve himself, so headed over to the urinal and swore again as he saw his urine stained red. "What the hell?" Danny whispered to himself, concerned. Finishing up in the bathroom he made his way back to the smart table where the others were back at looking at Mrs. Lomax's financials. He was feeling tired now and his body was starting to ache, arriving at Steve's side he wobbled briefly as he suddenly felt a little lightheaded. Steve had obviously noticed as he grabbed hold of his right forearm and steadied him.

"You ok?" Steve asked concerned.

"No, I don't feel too good." Danny replied honestly as a wave of nausea swept over him.

"You look pretty pale. Do you think your nose is still bleeding?" Kono asked now equally concerned.

"I don't know but I feel sick." Danny replied before lurching forward and dropping to his knees over the waste paper bin and emptying the contents of his stomach into it. Finishing up he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing it in blood and immediately causing Steve to grab the bin and examine his vomit. "Dorry,.. I guess… I must have swallowed... too much blood... from my dose." Danny said breathlessly.

"That's too much blood to just be from a nose bleed, Danny." Steve stated while watching his best friend try to catch his breath. "Are you having trouble breathing?"

"Just took.. my breath away." Danny coughed into his fist and Steve's eyes widened in shock as speckles of blood covered it. "Chin, call an ambulance."

"On it." Chin said pulling out his phone.

"Steve, what the hell is happening?" Danny asked scared. Then he wrapped his arm around his waist as cramps ripped through his stomach, and he was forced to vomit once again.

"I don't know Danny, but we are gonna get you checked out." Steve said his eyes drawn to Danny's forearm where he had grabbed it minutes before to steady his friend. Danny's arm was already bruising with a hand print where Steve's fingers had wrapped around it. He reached out and carefully took Danny's arm to examine the bruising.

"Where did dat come from?" Danny asked shocked.

"I grabbed your arm just now." Steve explained.

"Steve, this is more than a dose bleed. There was blood in my urine doo." Danny said before a coughing fit racked his body leaving him gasping for breath, and his mouth full of blood.

"Here," Kono said turning Danny's head to her and wiping his face with a wet towel.

Danny was now as white as a sheet, and all three team members watched on as he struggled to breathe. His body was trembling from the effort it took to remain sat upright so Steve quickly moved around behind Danny and forced his friend to relax against him, and Danny practically sagged into his friend's protective embrace.

"Medics are here." Chin said leading Ani and Jonah, two familiar EMT's over to Danny.

The medics set about evaluating Danny as Steve filled them in on Danny's sudden onset of bleeding. Jonah busied himself checking Danny's vitals as Ani immediately placed an oxygen mask over Danny's face to help with his troubled breathing. Then she examined the deepening bruise on Danny's arm from where Steve had grabbed him.

"It bruised just like this straight away?" She asked concerned.

"Yeah, then he started coughing up blood."

"Ok, we need to get him to the hospital as soon as possible for blood tests and treatment." Ani explained. "Danny your blood pressure is on the low side. But given the bleeding and bruising I think something is off with your clotting so I don't want to start an IV if I don't have to. I'd rather the doctors at the hospital do that."

"K." Danny replied which set him off coughing, showering the facemask with specks of bright red blood.

Jonah brought the gurney over and moved to Danny's side to help him up and on to it. "Take it nice and steady guys, I want to limit any bruising." Ani instructed.

As Jonah readied Danny for departure, Steve pulled Ani to one side out of his friend's ear shot, and Kono and Chin joined them. "Have you any idea what's going on with him?" He asked concerned.

"It could be a few things, Steve. They will be able to do tests at the hospital." Ani explained not wanting to speculate on what was causing Danny's sudden bleeding.

"A few things, like what?" Kono asked, her eyes wide with concern as Jonah quickly wiped the mask clean and replaced it over Danny's face.

"Guys, it's not my place to say. With a sudden onset of bleeding from multiple sources I can only presume something is wrong with his clotting, what is causing that I don't know." Ani tried to explain.

"His clotting? The bruising? God Ani, could we be looking at something like leukaemia?" Steve asked.

"It's one of the possibilities." Ani stated before retuning to Danny's side to check his oxygen levels before transporting him.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: well I had a very productive day yesterday and now have six chapters completed for my next story so thought I'd be nice and not keep you waiting for the update. **

**A big thankyou for all the reviews, I love them.**

**Chapter Four**

Steve rode in the ambulance watching on horrified as Danny struggled to breathe, and the mask became more and more stained with bright red blood. How had things turned so fast from them being happy they had solved the case to Danny bleeding out in front of them? The nasal packs were now bright red, and blood was beginning to seep down Danny's face. Danny looked terrified and had latched on to Steve's hand for all his worth.

Steve stared at Danny as he began to cough, it sounded like his lungs were full of fluid, and his concern grew. Focused solely on his best friend, Steve only realised they had arrived at the hospital when Danny was pulled from his grip as they unloaded him from the ambulance. Steve ran behind the gurney listening to Ani fill in Dr. Pearce.

"Danny is presenting with sudden onset bleeding from multiply sources. He started with severe Epistaxis then started vomiting blood. He also has Hematurea and is suffering from pulmonary haemorrhage. Oxygen saturations are only 80% on a non re breath, BP is 90/50. I decided against IV access in the field as he was stable and given the unknown cause of bleeding, I thought it best to wait." Ani explained and Dr. Pearce nodded.

"Ok everyone lets transfer him nice and steady. We'll use the sheet." She ordered and several bodies moved in to grab a piece of the sheet Danny was laid on, and they lifted him onto the hospitals gurney. Steve managed to move back to his place by Danny's side, and Danny immediately reached out and grabbed a hold of his hand again, so Steve gave his friend a reassuring squeeze.

After a quick vitals check, Dr. Pearce started dictating orders. "Sofi, you're the best at cannulation. Get me a wide bore cannula in, please, I want to limit the number of access we have. Take some bloods as you do it. I want a full clotting panel and blood count as well as blood for a tox screen. Eli, start a Foley, I want to keep an eye on the hematuria."

Steve turned so he had his back to the nurse, Eli, to allow Danny some attempt at privacy, and watched as the other nurse, Sofi, expertly placed a cannula into Danny's arm and drew off several vials of blood before starting some fluids. Already, blood started oozing around the cannula and she quickly padded it with gauze and secured it with a bandage.

Dr. Pearce placed her stethoscope in her ears and listened as Danny struggled to draw in each breath, and every exhale peppered the oxygen mask with more specks of blood. Seeing that his oxygen levels had dropped to 76% she turned to Sofi, "can you set up the CPAP machine? Let's try and help him with his breathing."

"The what, machine?" Steve asked, for his sake and Danny's. He knew his partner was listening to every word spoken; he just didn't have the breath to speak.

"CPAP. It stands for continuous positive airway pressure. We will put a peep value on that will help keep his alveoli open. It works along the lines of a balloon. The first time you blow it up it's really hard, but after it's already been stretched it's much easier to blow it up again. The peep will work like the stretched balloon." Dr. Pearce explained then spoke directly to Danny. "The mask is rather uncomfortable though Danny. It has to be held tight to your face to get a good seal, but I promise it should help with your breathing until we can work out what is going on."

Danny nodded his understanding. The mask sounded like it would be very claustrophobic which did nothing to calm him, but right now it felt like he was trying to breathe under water. His stomach muscles were aching from trying to drag as much air in as possible, so anything had to be an improvement on his present situation.

"We are going to swap out the nasal packs first Danny. Those are soaked through." Dr. Pearce explained as she carefully removed the pack from his left nostril and immediately blood flooded the back of his throat, causing him to vomit up yet more blood. Seeing the blood, Dr. Pearce immediately ordered two units of packed cells and an IV omeprazole infusion to help with the bleeding in Danny's stomach, she wasn't prepared to wait for the blood results. She then placed another nasal pack and quickly swopped out the right nostril too.

Sofi then appeared with the CPAP machine. Danny had presumed right, the mask was very claustrophobic. Straps were placed behind his head and connected to the mask clamping it in place. But after a minute Danny was relieved to find it was easier to breath.

Satisfied with her patients increasing oxygen levels, Dr Pearce moved down the bed to examine the dark red liquid content of the newly placed catheter bag. Frowning, she examined the bruises to Danny's arm. "What the hell is going on with you Danny?" She wondered aloud.

"We were hoping you could tell us that, doc. He was fine an hour ago, and then this, why is he bleeding. Ani thought something was wrong with his clotting, I was worried about leukaemia." Steve said then immediately regretted it when he realised Danny had heard and was starting to panic.

Dr. Pearce placed a calming hand on Danny's chest, "Danny, its ok. I agree something appears to be off with your clotting but I don't think its leukaemia. The bleeding is too sudden and severe."

"Dr. Pearce, the first blood results are back." Eli said handing her a print out.

"Thanks Eli." She said studying the results. "Eli, can you call blood bank and let them know we will want more packed cells. We will also need some fresh frozen plasma to replace all that he is losing. Then get me 10mg of vitamin K and run it over an hour. We need to correct this clotting. Sofi, can you call ICU. He's gonna need a bed while we get on top of this. Do we have the tox screen back yet?"

"No, Dr. Pearce. That will be a while yet." Sofi replied.

"Doc, what is it?" Steve asked concerned.

Dr. Pearce moved around so she could talk to both Steve, and Danny, raising her voice so Danny could hear over the noise of the hissing air from the CPAP machine. "Danny, your clotting is way out of sync. I've ordered a drug, blood, and plasma to correct it but it will take several hours to transfuse them, and get your clotting to a safe level. So in the meantime I want to move you to ICU where we can closely monitor you. The clotting problems are causing bleeding in your lungs which is what concerns me the most, and you will probably require support for a while as the bleeding will have irritated your lungs. I've also started you on an omeprazole infusion which will help with the bleeding in your stomach and bowel."

Danny managed a small nod to let her know he understood. His whole body ached and felt like a lead weight. His eyes started to drop and he found he had no desire to try and keep them open. Feeling a squeeze to his hand he finally pried them open, seeing a very worried looking Steve. Danny attempted to smile to reassure him but was unsure if it could be seen through the cumbersome mask. Dr. Pearce listened to his chest again then examined his stomach before placing her hand on Danny's chest again to gain his attention.

"Danny, we're moving you to the ICU now and I'm coming with you, Steve too." She quickly added when Danny attempted to search out his partner. "It's ok for you to sleep. I know you must be tired. Just get some rest. We'll take good care of you."

Danny gave another small nod and let his eyes slip closed. He felt the gurney start to move and expected to lose his grip on Steve's hand like before but it remained in place, every so often Steve giving him a reassuring squeeze to let his friend know he was still there.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: Time for the team to get some answers. **

**Chapter Five**

Chin and Kono had finally been allowed to join Steve in Danny's ICU room, and now all three sat and watched as their friend slept, his breathing still extremely laboured. His chest fighting to rise and draw in air through the soup in his lungs, helped only by the opposing mask clamped to his face.

As soon as Danny had arrived in the ICU, the experienced staff had descended on him to connect him to monitors. After the vitamin k had been started to reverse Danny's extremely high INR, they made the decision to place an arterial line into Danny's left wrist so they could monitor his blood pressure that way, as his left bicep was already looking extremely bruised from earlier readings. The arterial line also allowed them to closely monitor Danny's oxygenation, something that would need to be closely monitored as Danny's battered lungs fought to recover from the sudden bleeding. The doctors had already explained to Steve that Danny would need to be weaned off the CPAP, and then would require high flow oxygen.

The decision to place the arterial line hadn't been taken lightly, given Danny's bleeding issues, and now both his arms lay on absorbent pads as the site from the arterial line and cannula continued to ooze blood.

The oxygen tubing had already been replaced once as it filled up with frothy bright red blood that Danny expectorated with every exhale. The nursing staff frequently removed the mask to clean Danny's face and mouth, and each time Steve became concerned as Danny barely roused through out the process. The medical staff had done their best to reassure Steve that Danny was just exhausted from the blood loss, and as the transfusions continued things would begin to improve.

He team were relieved that the medical team were confident they could manage the bleeding and reverse Danny's clotting, but each member were acutely aware that the cause of this sudden bleeding was still unknown.

Dawn, a nurse who was practically extended Ohana to the team had been brought in to care for Danny, much to the teams relief. She retuned to the room and carefully, without waking Danny, changed the absorbent pads under his arms for clean ones.

"How's he doing, Dawn?" Steve asked from his seat at the side of Danny's bed.

"He's doing better, Steve. His last gasses had improved, and the amount of hematurea is decreasing, it definitely looks lighter now." She said indicating the catheter bag hanging below the bed that now contained a rose stained liquid. "The drugs and blood products are doing their job."

"That's good." Chin half smiled. Each of them finding it hard to accept any positive changes in Danny's condition, when he looked so ill.

"I just wish we knew what caused this." Kono sighed from her seat by the window. "His clotting is being corrected now but will it stay that way? What if this happens again?"

"I'm sure once he is stabilised Dr. Pearce will want to run additional tests to find out the cause of all this." Dawn tried to reassure.

"There will be no need." Dr Pearce said arriving at Danny's door and entering. "I just got the results of Danny's tox screen back. Guys, has Danny been prescribed any medication recently that I don't know about, by his regular doctor perhaps?"

"No." Steve said shaking his head. "No he was healthy until this afternoon, even his bum knee has been pretty good lately."

"Then I think Danny has been poisoned, whether accidentally or on purpose will be for you to investigate." She explained.

"Poisoned?" All three team members asked.

"Yes." Dr. Pearce confirmed. "Danny's blood showed a drug called Warfarin, it's a blood thinner, and judging by the level of Danny's INR he must have ingested a large dose."

"How could he have ingested that accidentally?" Chin asked.

"Well it is the main ingredient in rat poison, would he have any of that at home or come in contact with it today. It would have to have been sometime this afternoon to have the effects it did."

"I don't see how he could have come in contact with it." Kono said, "We've been working a case all afternoon."

"Oh god!" Steve suddenly exclaimed. "Doc, Warfarin, it's used for people with heart conditions, right?"

"Yes, some heart conditions require Warfarin to prevent clots developing." Dr. Pearce confirmed.

"The bitch tried to kill him. She came across a frail old woman but she tried to kill him to save herself and her granddaughters' asses." Steve said angrily.

"What? Mrs. Lomax?" Chin asked catching on to Steve's train of thought.

"Yeah, she has a heart condition. Danny was fine until he came back from arresting her."

"But how would she have poisoned Danny?" Kono asked still trying to absorb it all.

"Warfarin is tasteless. It could have easily been added to food or drink." Dr. Pearce explained.

Steve ran a hand over his face then stood and carefully placed his hand on Danny's shoulder, and gently shook it. "Danny, Danno, I need you to wake up for a bit. I know you're tired but I need to ask you something."

Danny slowly opened his eyes and focused on his partner then looked around the room, seeing his teammates he raised a hand in a little wave.

"Hey brah," Kono smiled moving closer to the bed.

"Dawn, can you remove the mask for a few moments, maybe give Danny a quick drink before Steve asks his questions." Dr. Pearce requested.

Dawn immediately complied and released the strapping on the mask. She helped Danny to swill the blood from his mouth then take a sip of water to sooth his throat. She held the mask in the vicinity of Danny's face so he was still receiving some oxygen.

"Danny, when you were at Mrs. Lomax's did you eat or drink anything?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Danny replied in a breathless gasp. "I had...a...coffee, like you said."

"Shit!" Steve exclaimed.

"Why?" Danny asked confused, all the people in the room were now looking very angry.

"It looks like she poisoned you. Doc found Warfarin in your blood which caused all the bleeding. It's used in heart patients." Steve explained.

Danny let his head sink back into the pillow. He didn't even have the energy, or words, to comment.

"Thanks Dawn." Dr. Pearce smiled, "Danny we need to put the mask back on now."

"No wait." Danny said raising his right hand and weakly pushing the mask away. "My nose hurts." He explained pinching the bridge of his nose where an indent had formed from the pressure of the mask.

"I can help with that." Dawn smiled then turned to Steve, "grab this for me would you, just hold it in place so he gets the oxygen."

Steve took hold of the mask and Danny gave him a weary smile, "don't worry. I'll make sure she is charged for this. She is gonna die in prison. She will never see freedom again."

Dawn returned with a dressing in hand and cut a strip off it then placed it over the bridge of Danny's nose where the mask sat. "This is Duoderm, it should pad your nose and take some of the pressure off it." She explained then secured the mask back in place. "Better?" She asked and Danny gave her the thumbs up.

"Danny," Dr. Pearce called, "all the treatment we are already giving you will correct the poisoning, its just going to take a little longer for your levels to return to normal. Once they do the bleeding will stop, but your body is going to need some time to recover from the damage done to it. Especially your lungs but you will make a full recovery. Your body needs rest now so go back to sleep and don't worry, we have this under control."

Danny gave her another thumbs up, and the team smiled. They were used to Danny talking with his hands it was just usually accompanied but a verbal rant.

Steve remained by Danny's side until he was sure his friend was back asleep then he signalled for Chin and Kono to join him just outside the room.

"Chin head over to Mrs. Lomax's and update CSU, I want evidence that she poisoned Danny. Kono, can you stay here with Danny? I don't want him left alone. Once he feels better he is not gonna like that mask, and I want someone I trust to keep him calm."

"Sure boss." Kono replied, "But wouldn't you be better at that? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to speak with Mrs. Lomax." Steve stated then stalked down the hallway.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

**Note: thanks for all the reviews. Sorry for the delay in posting, I planned to post before going to work but had to dig the car out of the snow and get the kids to school.**

**Chapter Six**

Steve made it all the way outside the hospital before he realised he didn't have any transport. He had come in the ambulance with Danny.

"Here." Chin said catching up to his boss and handing him the keys to the Camaro. "We drove it over in case you needed it."

"Thanks man." Steve sighed taking the keys.

"No problem, brah. But Steve, drive the long way to HPD. Take the time to calm down. You marching in there full of anger is likely to send the woman into heart failure."

"That's probably a good idea." Steve admitted, right now he was boiling over with anger, at Mrs. Lomax, and himself.

"You are not to blame for this, Steve." Chin said placing a comforting hand on Steve's shoulder.

Steve gave a little laugh. Sometimes the Hawaiians ability to ready people's minds scared him. "I sent him back there Chin, I even told him to have a damn coffee."

"You can't blame yourself for her actions, brah, Danny would most likely have had the coffee anyway in an attempt to get her to open up. And if he didn't she would have found some other way to try and get rid of him. You need to go speak to her with a clear head. Drive the long way to HPD. I'll head straight to her house and get the evidence you need to confront her."

"Thanks, Chin." Steve said slapping the man on the back. "The long way it is." And he headed off to the car.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Steve finally arrived at HPD after taking Chin's advice and taking the more scenic route, allowing himself time to calm down. As he made his way up the steps to HPD his phone rang, pulling it out he saw it was Chin.

"We got her brah," Chin immediately stated. "CSU found a ground up powder in the kitchen, and a bottle of Warfarin pills next to it. She used two spoons to crush it so she could put it in the coffee. They are gonna test it to prove its Warfarin, and they have the coffee cups to test for traces too. She didn't have a chance to clear up before Danny arrested her and Channing."

"That's great, man. Thanks. I just arrived at HPD. I'm going to speak with her now."

"Ok, I'll head back to the hospital and keep Kono company. I'll see you later."

Steve hung up the phone and headed inside. He had rung ahead on his way over and spoken with Duke, bringing him up to speed.

"She's in the interview room." Duke explained when he saw the Commander enter, "Channing has already been booked and given a full confession."

"Wise girl, let's hope her grandmother is as sensible." Steve said heading over to the room where the woman that almost killed his partner was held.

As Steve entered, followed by Duke, the woman looked up and immediately recognised the man that towered over her.

"I'd like to say it's good to see you again, Mrs. Lomax, but it really isn't. That was quite a business you had going there, very profitable I bet, until Channing started to sample too much of your product and ended up killing her friend."

"She was doing it for me, to help pay the bills, and help with my glaucoma. I told you she is a good girl. It was the drugs that made her kill Laura." Mrs. Lomax tried to explain.

"And it was the drugs that made you try to kill my partner, right?" Steve asked and Mrs. Lomax suddenly looked terrified.

"I...I...kill him? Is he dead?" She stumbled.

"Fortunately for you I said, tried. But that is thanks to luck, and the fact that he received excellent medical care. He is in the ICU right now fighting for every breath he takes because his lungs are bleeding, and he is drowning in his own blood, because you poisoned him with your heart medication."

"I...I.." Mrs. Lomax continued to stumble.

"We know you crushed your pills and slipped them in his drink, we found the evidence at your house. The question is do we charge you with attempted murder, or assault." Steve said calmly.

"I didn't try to kill him, I didn't want that. I...I..."

"You what?" Steve asked raising his voice and making the woman jump.

"I just thought it might make him unwell. Take your focus off of us so we could get rid of the drugs and give Channing a chance to get away."

"They were blood thinners, what did you expect them to do to him?" Duke asked disgusted at the woman's confession.

"I don't know. I wasn't thinking. I was just trying to protect my granddaughter."

Steve leaned over and placed his hands on the desk that separated him and the elderly woman. "Your granddaughter killed her friend in cold blood, and you almost killed my best friend. You almost left his daughter with out a father. If it was up to me I would book you with attempted murder, but I guess we will have to leave that decision up to the DA. Either way you will be going down for supplying drugs and harbouring a criminal."

"I think we can make perverting the course of justice stick too." Duke added.

"I don't think you will be seeing the light of day, again." Steve turned and left the room with Duke following him.

"Book her for whatever you can." Steve instructed the older man. "I'm going to get back to Danny."

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Steve entered Danny's room and smiled when he saw his friend now had some colour to his completion.

"How did it go?" Chin asked.

"She confessed to spiking his drink, said she only wanted to make him ill. She wanted to distract us long enough for them to clear out, and go on the run."

"Will she be charged with assault or attempted murder then?" Kono asked.

"I left it in the hands of the DA, but Duke is gonna push for attempted murder. She didn't tell anyone what she had done once she was arrested. If she had we could have got Danny treated faster, and maybe he wouldn't be this sick."

"She deserves everything she gets." Kono growled, "I get wanting to protect Ohana, but not like this." She said indicating Danny.

"At least we have them both in custody now. Duke is going to handle everything, and the Governor called me for an update as I arrive here, he said we were to focus on Danny."

"That's good of him." Kono smiled.

"Yeah, well while I'm with Danny here I can't be blowing anything up and costing the island a fortune, were his exact words."

"Now that makes more sense." Kono laughed.

"So how's he doing?" Steve asked as he sank into a chair by the bed.

"His last round of bloods showed his clotting was almost back to normal." Chin explained. "Dawn says he's doing well."

"He's doing very well, actually." Dawn said as she entered the room. "The bleeding from his IVs has stopped, and when he wakes up I'm going to try and remove the nasal packs. We think the bleeding should have stopped, and it will make him more comfortable. I have one more bag of blood to hang, and then we are done with the transfusions. He's over the worst guys."

"Thank god." Steve said dropping his head into his hands. Letting out a big sigh he looked up to the cousins, "why don't you guys head home, it's getting late. I'm gonna stay the night with him."

"You can go too Steve. I'm on all night and will take care of him. He is probably going to sleep most of the night." Dawn said.

Steve smiled at Dawn, "come on Dawn, you know I'm not going anywhere."

"Well it was worth a try." She smiled back then started to take down Danny's latest vitals.

"Alright Steve, we'll head home. But call us if there is any chance or you need anything." Chin said standing up and stretching.

Kono looked torn. She wanted to stay close to her friend. "I'm ok to stay the night too."

"Come on cuz, I'll shout you to some food. We'll come back in the morning." Chin said pulling Kono to her feet and angling her to the door.

"Thanks, guys." Steve called out after them.

"What was that all about?" Kono asked out in the hallway. "I wanted to stay, Danny is still so ill."

"I know, but he is in good hands, and slowly getting better. Steve needs some time alone with him. You know how those two are. Just give Steve some space, he feels partly responsible for all this."

"What? That's ridiculous." Kono said shocked.

"We both know that, but this is Steve we are talking about. I talked to him about it, and he'll be fine, but he needs this time alone with Danny."

"Ok fine." Kono relented. "But we come back first thing in the morning."

"Of course," Chin said pulling her in for a hug as they reached the elevator. "You heard Dawn, he's over the worst now, we just need to let him rest and recover."

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 7

**Note: some of you have been worried I'm not whumping Danny. Relax I'm done for this story but just finished whumping him in my next lol.**

**A big big thanks to everyone who has stuck with me til the end and of course my thanks to wenwalke once again. **

**Chapter Seven**

Steve shifted awkwardly in his chair. He had declined the use of a cot in favour of staying close to Danny. However the high backed chair was far from comfortable and he had rested his head against its side in an attempt to doze, and now had a crick in his neck. He slowly attempted to rotate his neck, but was hit in the face by a pillow. Recovering from the sudden shock he sat forward in the chair and realised that Danny was awake. He'd obviously been watching him squirm in the chair and decided to launch one of his pillows at his friend.

"Thanks," Steve said raising the pillow, "how long have you been awake?"

"Not...long." Danny said, although it was muffled by the mask, "when...can... this come ... off?" He added tugging at the mask.

Steve had been waiting for this, it was the reason why he had wanted to stay close by, "it needs to stay for now, don't pull at it." He ordered pulling Danny's hand away.

"It's tight." Danny frowned.

"It has to be, remember Danny." Dawn said coming closer from her seat where she was sat monitoring his vitals. "I can take it off for a short time while we remove the nasal packs. That should make you feel much more comfortable, and make the mask more bearable."

Danny eagerly nodded, as Steve stood so that he could hold the mask in Danny's vicinity to make sure he was still getting the much needed oxygen. Dawn worked quickly to remove the packs and Steve was relieved that blood didn't start pouring from his friend's nose. "Bet that feels better, eh buddy?"

"Yeah." Danny sighed then started to cough, Dawn instinctively knew what her patient needed and passed him a bowl so he could spit up the dark congealed blood clot.

"Believe it or not Danny, that's a good sign. The bleeding has stopped, and you're managing to clear your airway. I need to put the mask back on now, but I'm going to drop the peep valve down, and hopefully we can have you on high flow by the morning." Dawn explained.

Danny groaned but allowed Dawn to replace the mask, tightening the straps to secure the seal.

"How about we change your position and try and get you comfy." Dawn suggested. "We have you on a pressure relieving mattress but I'd prefer to move you too."

"Do I have...to?" Danny grimaced. His whole body ached from his big toes to the hair follicles on his head.

"It really would be better. Danny are you in pain?" Dawn asked seeing Danny grimace once more.

"Mmmm." Danny confirmed along with a nod.

"Ok, I can fix that. Let's get some pain relief in you, and then we can get you moved." Dawn said before hurrying out of the room.

"Danny, if you were in pain you should have said something." Steve scolded.

"I just ache...everywhere." Danny explained.

"That's hardly surprising. You're black and blue all over."

"I feel like someone...used me as a...punch bag." Danny said between breaths.

"Looks like it too." Steve said frowning at the hand print he had left behind on Danny's arm, knowing the rest of his friend's body was covered in similar bruising.

"Here you go Danny." Dawn said retuning to the room and injecting a pain killer into his IV. Danny instantly felt the painkiller dial back the aches, but with it came the familiar nod, and Danny's eyes started to slip closed.

"Oh no you don't, mister, not yet." Dawn said giving Danny a gentle shake. "I want you on one of your sides for a bit, now which way do you want to face?"

"Might as well...face his ugly mug." Danny replied pointing at Steve.

"Charming." Steve said rolling his eyes then helping Danny to roll on to his side and watched as Dawn placed more pillows behind Danny to support him. Danny had only been settled a few minutes before he was back asleep.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

"Steve, Steve, I need your help." Dawn said taking a chance to wake the sleeping SEAL. Steve had finally decided to make use of the cot, once Danny had fallen back asleep, but now after several hours of sleep Dawn was roughly waking him.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Steve asked jumping off the cot.

"He's awake and more with it, he isn't tolerating the mask." Dawn replied from Danny's side where she once again batted Danny's hand away from attempting to dislodge the mask.

Staggering over to Danny's bed he saw his partner sat up in bed looking very dishevelled. His hair had fallen into his eyes and his hands were trembling. Grabbing hold of one of those hands he looked his partner in the eye. "D, calm, down. What's wrong?"

"It's too tight, I can't breath." Danny replied and tried again with his free hand to remove the mask only to be thwarted by Dawn.

"The mask is helping you to breathe Danny, you know this." Steve answered trying to calm his friend.

"And you know Steven, that I feel trapped. I don't like it."

"Danny, Dr. Pearce has just started her shift, I've paged her and she is on her way but I need you to hang tight and leave the mask alone for a little longer." Dawn explained.

"You can do that, can't you Danno? Just focus on me and ignore the mask." Steve said gaining Danny's attention with the use of his daughter's special name.

Danny rolled his eyes then dropped his head back but his eyes remained glued to Steve as he did his best to control his breathing. Thankfully only a few minutes later Dr. Pearce entered the room.

"Morning, Danny. Misbehaving I hear, you must be feeling better."

Danny laughed and nodded in response.

"Ok, let me check your last blood gasses." Dr. Pearce said quickly looking through Danny's file and his latest readings. After a quick listen to Danny's chest she smiled and then released the straps holding the mask. "Your gasses look good. We can swap you to high flow now. It's still a mask but not a tight one."

"Thanks." Danny smiled, he wasn't a massive fan of the new mask but it was a big improvement, and it didn't make him feel claustrophobic.

"Your lungs have improved a lot overnight. I'd like to see you out of bed today. Sit in the chair for a while. I'm going to continue the IV fluids and omeprazole for today, but let's start you off on a very light diet, soup, and ice cream. Take it steady, your stomach is going to be sensitive for a while after the bleeding."

"Ok. Thanks Andrea." Danny sighed, he still ached all over, and if he was honest with himself, the thought of getting out of bed wasn't appealing, but he knew he had to do it if he wanted to get out of hospital as soon as possible.

"You're welcome Danny. I have other patients to review but I'll be back to check on you later."

"Thanks doc." Steve smiled, grateful to see his best friend looking better.

"So Danny, how do you feel about getting that trip to the chair out of the way?" Dawn smiled. "We can get you freshened up so I can go home and sleep knowing, you're all set for the day."

"Sure." Danny sighed, "Anything to help my favourite nurse sleep."

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

It had taken more effort than Danny had imagined to make it out of bed. All his joints were stiff, and Steve had to help support him to slowly manoeuvre from bed to chair, while Dawn took care of the lines and catheter attached to him. Danny had needed several minutes to recover his breathing before Dawn helped him to freshen up. Steve nipped out, allowing Danny some privacy, and to get some much needed coffee for himself and for Danny, after checking with Dawn that it would be ok.

Once Dawn was satisfied that Danny was comfortable, and stable, sat in the chair, she handed over to the day staff and headed home, bidding Steve farewell as he returned to the ICU.

"Looking good, partner." Steve smiled seeing Danny sat in the chair, wearing a fresh gown and a sheet across his knee, the catheter tucked away discretely to spare any embarrassment.

"Yeah, right." Danny laughed.

"Well you look miles better than yesterday at least. You kinda scared me."

"Kinda scared myself. I'm sorry. I screwed up." Danny admitted.

"How did you screw up?" Steve asked surprised. "You arrested both Channing, and Mrs. Lomax."

"But I managed to get myself poisoned, I shouldn't have drunk the coffee, I let my guard down because she was an old woman."

"I did too, Danny. I told you to go have a coffee, I feel so bad about that." Steve said dropping his gaze to the floor.

"Steve, don't. You weren't to know."

"And neither were you. We'll chalk this up as a learning experience. From now on, no one on the team accepts anything from a witness."

"Agreed." Danny smiled then readjusted the oxygen mask to a more comfortable position.

"Well look who's out of bed." Kono said entering the room, Chin seconds behind her, "you look so much better, Danny."

"I feel better, tired and I ache all over but my breathing is so much easier."

"Any idea how long you'll be stuck in here." Chin asked.

"Dr. Pearce didn't say but I'd expect it to be a few more days." Steve answered.

"Dawn said I should be on normal oxygen by tomorrow. Then I can move out of the ICU and lose the IV's." Danny filled them in.

"That's great." Kono said placing a brown food bag on the table next to Danny, "I brought you some of my mom's chicken soup. I always have some in the freezer in case I need a pick me up, and Steve said you've been cleared for a light diet."

"Kono Kalakaua do you know how much I love you?" Danny said his mouth already watering at the thought of Mrs. Kalakaua famous chicken soup. It was a favourite of all the team and would be miles better than the tasteless broth the hospital usually provided.

"Right back at ya, brah. Don't scare us like that again."

"I'll try not to." Danny promised.

Steve handed Danny his coffee and the team settled down to keep him company. They couldn't help but notice that he still looked pale, and was tiring sat out in the chair. But they were grateful that he was slowly recovering from the attack that came close to taking him from them. A few more days and he would be out of the hospital, and well on the way to a full recovery.

**THE END**


End file.
